Kevin Merida

Early life and education

Kevin Merida was born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised in the Washington, D.C., area. His mother, Doris, (née Ewell) worked as a communications specialist and FOIA officer for the National Science Foundation.

Merida attended Crossland High School, among the first group of children in the U.S. to be bused under a 1971 Supreme Court ruling. He graduated from Boston University. After graduating, he attended the University of California, Berkeley's "Summer Program for Minority Journalists."

Career

Merida's journalistic and research focus generally involves biographies about "difficult subjects," as described by the Houston Institute for Race & Justice. He has covered biographical subjects like Strom Thurmond, Bob Dole, George W. Bush, and Newt Gingrich.

Merida began his journalism career at the Milwaukee Journal. He served as a general assignments reporter and rotating city desk editor from 1979 to 1983.

In 1983, Merida was recruited by the Dallas Morning News, where he initially worked as a special projects reporter and local political writer. He was later promoted to Washington-based national correspondent and White House correspondent covering the George H.W. Bush presidency. He concluded his tenure at the paper as assistant managing editor in charge of foreign and national news coverage. At those newspapers, he wrote about crime and society.

The Washington Post

He was hired by The Washington Post in 1993.

In 2008, Merida became Assistant Managing Editor at The Washington Post for the paper's United States national news department. He led the national staff for four years during the Obama presidency. Merida co-authored 'Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas, about Clarence Thomas, with Michael A. Fletcher. He teamed with Deborah Willis in 2008 to co-author the bestselling hardcover photo book, Obama, the Historic Campaign in Photographs.

He was named managing editor, "responsible for news and features coverage as well as the Universal News Desk," on February 4, 2013.

The Los Angeles Times

After a six-month search, The Los Angeles Times announced on Monday, May 3, 2021 that it had selected Merida to be executive editor of the publication. In January 2024, it was announced that Merida would step down from his role at The Los Angeles Times, with owner Patrick Soon-Shiong later stating he fired Merida in an interview with Tucker Carlson in March 2025.

Awards and board memberships

Merida serves on the boards of the Pulitzer Prizes, and the Boston University Board of Trustees. In addition, he sits on the boards of the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, the Philip Merrill College of Journalism and the Wallace House at the University of Michigan.

In 2020, Merida was named to the Dean’s Advisory Council at the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences, Simmons University.

Merida was part of a 1990 Dallas Morning News team that was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in explanatory journalism for a special report on the world’s “hidden wars.”

In 2025, Merida served as a judge for that year's American Mosaic Journalism Prize.

Awards and honors

• 1990, Pulitzer Prize finalist
• 2000, Journalist of the Year, National Association of Black Journalists
• 2005, Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University’s College of Journalism.
• 2006, Vernon Jarrett Award for Journalistic Excellence
• 2018, Missouri Honors Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism Missouri School of Journalism
• 2020, NABJ Chuck Stone Lifetime Achievement Award.

Personal life

Merida lives in Los Angeles with his wife, journalist, author and former Washington Post columnist Donna Britt. In 2012, The Huffington Post named the couple one of the "Black Voices Power Couples" of the year. He has one son—Skye—with Donna Briit; and is stepfather to her sons Justin Britt-Gibson and actor Darrell Britt-Gibson.

Bibliography

• Merida, Kevin. Being a Black Man: At the Corner of Progress and Peril. New York: Public Affairs (2007).
• Merida, Kevin and Deborah Willis. Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs. New York: Amistad (2008).
• Merida, Kevin and Michael Fletcher. Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas. New York: Broadway (2008).

References

References

1. "Kevin Merida's Biography".
2. (June 25, 2021). "Kevin Merida – Executive Editor".
3. (October 19, 2015). "Kevin Merida Named Editor-in-Chief for "The Undefeated"– ESPN Site on Sports, Race and Culture". ESPN MediaZone.
4. (January 27, 2020). "Children's book 'Andscape' wins Caldecott and two other awards".
5. (2003-02-16). "Before Chocolate City". [[The Washington Post]].
6. Merida, Kevin. (September 2, 1998). "Where That Bus Ride Took Me". [[The Washington Post]].
7. Weil, Martin. (16 December 2008). "Merida Takes The Helm of The Post's National Staff". [[The Washington Post]].
8. "Kevin Merida". Contemporary Authors.
9. "Home".
10. Beaujon, Andrew. "Kevin Merida named managing editor of The Washington Post". Poynter Institute.
11. "Being a Black Man".
12. Calderone, Michael. "WaPo's Merida named AME / National". Politico.
13. Patterson, Orlando. (17 June 2007). "Thomas Agonistes". The New York Times.
14. "Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs".
15. (May 3, 2021). "ESPN's Kevin Merida named L.A. Times executive editor".
16. (2024-01-09). "L.A. Times executive editor Kevin Merida to step down".
17. "Pulitzer Prize Board".
18. "Kevin Merida (COM '79) Joins BU Board of Trustees | College of Communication".
19. (April 4, 2017). "Journalist Kevin Merida Elected to KFF Board of Trustees".
20. Staff, Maynard Institute. (May 4, 2021). "Maynard Institute board member Kevin Merida named executive editor of the L.A. Times".
21. "Board of Visitors | Philip Merrill College of Journalism".
22. "Kevin Merida".
23. "University Advisory Council | Simmons University".
24. "Merida, Kevin | Encyclopedia.com".
25. Brod, Maya. (2025-02-11). "Two Journalists Awarded Nation's Largest Media Prize for Coverage of Misrepresented Communities, Including Black Americans, Migrant Farmers and Transgender Latinx Groups". Heising-Simons Foundation.
26. "Finalist: Staff of The Dallas Morning News". Columbia University.
27. Williams, Brennan. (17 November 2012). "Couple Of The Year Countdown: Donna Britt and Kevin Merida". The Huffington Post.
28. "Distinguished Alumni | College of Communication".
29. (20 June 2018). "8 to Receive the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism – Missouri School of Journalism".
30. (October 30, 2020). "NABJ Virtual Awards to Stream December 19".
31. https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/donna-britt